An anonymous poet in the 1700's wrote about crime: "The law will punish a man or woman who steals the goose from the hillside, but lets the greater robber loose who steals the hillside from the goose."[l]
When talking about "the greater robber" it seemed particularly appropriate in the midst of the biggest financial rip-off in history of this country to think about the billions of dollars the Savings & Loan criminals stole, and about how most of them have gotten away with it. I thought about the complete insanity of how this country defines crimes in society. If you steal $5 you're a thief, but if you steal $5 million --you're a financier.
Thirty percent of the wealth of this country is controlled by one-half of one percent of the people. Eighty percent of the wealth is controlled by ten percent of the people. I think that is a crime. In the dictionary, the word "crime" means "an act which is against the law." Crime applies particularly to an act that breaks a law that has been made for public good. Crime in one country, the dictionary continued, "may be entirely overlooked by the law in another country or may not apply at all in a different historical period."
That was interesting. What that really said was that concepts of "crime" are not eternal. The very nature of crime is sociopsychological and defined by time and place and those who have the power to make definitions; by those who write dictionaries, so to speak.
The more I thought about that and about those who write the laws, or at least define what law is, the more profound it became. I believe we all will agree that the United States is a nation of criminals. From its inception as a settler nation, exiled British criminals stole the land and lives from Na...
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... to confront their oppression.
Notes
Taken from an edited version of a speech by Sabina Virgo, given in L.A. on International Human Rights Day, December 8, 1990.
Quoted from the text, Criminology, by Larry Siegel., pg. 40.
Quoted from An Introduction to Sociology, by Michael S. Bassis, Richard J. Gelles and Ann Levine, pages 238-239.
Justice Expenditure and Employment, 1988 (NCJ-124132).
Bibliography
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A major question historians have disagreed on has been whether or not John D. Rockefeller was a so-called "robber baron". Matthew Josephson agreed that Rockefeller was indeed a "robber baron". In the book Taking Sides, He claims that Rockefeller was a deceptive and conspiratorial businessman, whose fortune was built by secret agreements and wrung concessions from America's leading railroad companies (Taking Sides 25).
“Jamaica’s a country of great dichotomy. On the one hand you have a tourist industry with great beaches and resorts, but on the other you have such great poverty and the violence that goes along with that.”(Michael Franti) In this paper, I will talk about the geography, the history of Jamaica, the people that live there now and that lived there in the past, the lifestyle of the society, and the society, like the government and economy.
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From the country’s earliest days, Jamaica experienced colonial status, with paternal influences from the West. Spain initially maintained ascendancy over the colony; yet, as they embarked upon their sesquicentennial reign, the Empire’s grasp began to loosen. Primarily incessant interstate conflict, between the Empire and its bordering nations, wreaked havoc. Contrastingly, England continued to thrive and experience heightened success in their colonial endeavors. Indeed, as Spain began losing dominance over Jamaica, England looked to the Caribbean to increase their economic hegemony; in 1650, the British successfully cap...
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Young, J. (1981). Thinking seriously about crime: Some models of criminology. In M. Fitzgerald, G. McLennan, & J. Pawson (Eds.), Crime and society: Readings in history and society (pp. 248-309). London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
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There is a range of safety concerns in regards to nuclear power with one of these being the effects of radiation resulting from a nuclear accident. Research shows that there is a link between exposure to radiation and the development of cancer (Zakaib 2011) whist Preston (2012) express’s concerns that people exposed to radiation may not be able to see the effects of radiation exposure for several years as was the case in Chernobyl. Furthermore, people are unable to move back into the vicinity of reactors that have been involved in an incident due to their fear of radiation as is the chase in Fukishima (Cyranoski & Brumfiel 2011) and in the areas surrounding Chernobyl (Berton 2006). Governments are increasingly becoming more stringent in the levels of radiation in which people are exposed to with this evident in Fukishma, where the Japanese government evacuated people living within a 30km radius of the plant (Evacuation Orders and Restricted Areas n.d.). As a result of nuclear accidents and the resulting radiation, support for nuclear power has diminished due to safety concerns.
The field has not quite reached consensus on definitions of LD, and there are professionals as well as members of the public who do not understand them or believe they exist. For example, in a Roper (1995) survey of 1,200 adults, 85% associated LD with mental retardation 66% with deafness, and 60% with blindness. In Rocco's (1997) research, faculty "questioned the existence of certain conditions or if they existed, the appropriateness of classifying the condition as a disability" (p. 158). However, most definitions describe learning disabilities as a group of disorders that affect the ability to acquire and use listening, speaking, reading, writing, reasoning, or math skills (Gerber and Reiff 1994; National Adult Literacy and Learning Disabilities Center 1995a; National Center for Learning Disabilities 1997). These difficulties vary in severity, may persist across the lifespan, and may affect one or more areas of a person's life, including learning, work, and social and emotional functioning.
The classroom is a diverse place where learners from all different genres of life meet. Included in these learners are those that display learning disabilities. According to the British Columbia School Superintendent’s Association, ‘learning disabilities refer to a number of conditions that might affect the acquisition, organization, retention, understanding or use of verbal or nonverbal information. These disorders affect learning in individuals who otherwise demonstrate at least average abilities essential for thinking and/or reasoning’. They also posit that ‘learning disabilities result from impairments in one or more processes related to perceiving, thinking, remembering or learning. These include, but are not limited to language processing,
Morrison, W. (2009) 'What is crime? Contrasting definitions and perspectives', in C. Hale, K. Hayward, A. Wahadin and E. Wincup, (eds), Criminology. Oxford: Oxford University Press
Jamaica is full of diversity. From religion, to ancestry, and even geography, Jamaica is always evolving. From the towering mountains all the way to the warm and sandy beaches, Jamaica is a sight to see. However, Jamaica was not always a happy and carefree place. The Jamaican people have suffered from war, disease, and slavery. Jamaica is a small and beautiful country that thrives with culture and should be studied by everyone around the world.
Jamaica’s fighting spirit can be seen even in its early days with the Maroons. The fighting spirit is not uncommon with people who are oppressed or forced against their will. The Maroons came in two waves, the first are slaves that fled during the Spanish rule, the second wave was during British control. The Maroons used the highlands of Jamaica to seek refuge, establish colonies and attack plantations when needed. Even today the beliefs and herbal practices of the Maroons are still evident in Jamaican culture. Their trouble past has made their life difficult but even today they are a presence in Jamaica.
United States and Jamaica have many similarities such as they were both under British rule for several years, and they both elect officials to govern the country. However the differences between the two are quite vast when it comes to the quality of education, government, and healthcare. When the three are compared it is clear to see that in terms of where is a better place for a child to grow up the United States is a better place to be.